My only regret is that I never kept up with early in life guitar lessons. I would really like to be able to play well now. My younger brother took up the drums and plays gigs in and around Penticton. The last time I saw him play he was playing at a wind up for a ball tournament...was a fun night...would have been more fun to have been up on stage with him.
If you could do it all over again?
- Thread starter Mighty Sylvan
- Start date
lorneparker1
Banned
woah is me, woah is me. I think thats how the song goes for some
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
hey profisher---it's NEVER too late to start playing guitar again. Last night I decided I was going to buy another guitar (arch-top jazz guitar) I have several nylon string classical guitars but I want to get back into playing blues, rock and jazz.
Here's part of the reason I'm so jazzed up about guitar these days----My TV puked about three months ago and I didn't bother to get another one or sign up for cable. So what did I do for enjoyment over the long wet winter?
I surfed Youtube for guitar lessons--it's the most unbelievable resource----it's bottomless (as far as how much stuff is out there for beginner, intermediate or expert guitar players) and last but not least, it's free.
I found a couple of sites that taught me how to read "tab"---I saw how easy it was and in a week, I was reading "tab" for guitar, all because of a YouTube vid that led me eventually to a site that explained what tab was all about.
If I'd had this resource when I was 18, I think I would be playting at 10 times the level I'm playing now, but it's NEVER too late to pick it back up
Here's some wisdom that you might have heard before but I'll say it again---- On our deathbeds, we'll never regret the things we did; it's the things we never did that we'll regret.
Heliskiing? That's one of them for me. I'll never do it because I waited to long to afford it (and now I'm too old and no longer have the legs for it).
But guitar? I can do that until someone peels my cold dead fingers off the strings (and stands there wondering why I have a shiat-eating grin on my face when they find me)
Here's part of the reason I'm so jazzed up about guitar these days----My TV puked about three months ago and I didn't bother to get another one or sign up for cable. So what did I do for enjoyment over the long wet winter?
I surfed Youtube for guitar lessons--it's the most unbelievable resource----it's bottomless (as far as how much stuff is out there for beginner, intermediate or expert guitar players) and last but not least, it's free.
I found a couple of sites that taught me how to read "tab"---I saw how easy it was and in a week, I was reading "tab" for guitar, all because of a YouTube vid that led me eventually to a site that explained what tab was all about.
If I'd had this resource when I was 18, I think I would be playting at 10 times the level I'm playing now, but it's NEVER too late to pick it back up
Here's some wisdom that you might have heard before but I'll say it again---- On our deathbeds, we'll never regret the things we did; it's the things we never did that we'll regret.
Heliskiing? That's one of them for me. I'll never do it because I waited to long to afford it (and now I'm too old and no longer have the legs for it).
But guitar? I can do that until someone peels my cold dead fingers off the strings (and stands there wondering why I have a shiat-eating grin on my face when they find me)
pescador
Well-Known Member
I have not complaints about my life, but, I sure is hell never planned to do what I'm doing. I frankly had no plan. I just started working and one thing led to another and so on. My only regret is listening to people who told me I couldn't do this or that. Back in the 60's/70's there was a lot of negative reinforcement by school counsellors teachers and other people who were supposed to encourage and support youth. Thank God today our kids get far better support, encouragement and real life opportunities to get training and started on a planned path to a future in something they really plan to do or like to do. Many now know where they are headed when they leave school. In my days, maybe 5% knew where they were headed.
Mighty Sylvan
Active Member
I sure didn't know what I was going to do when I left school. I spent a few years working retail until I thought that I better get a trade. I just don't know if 17 or 18 year olds have the tools to choose the right career. It is too bad that we are motivated by money rather than fulfillment.
Seafever
Well-Known Member
Hey you kids out there reading this thread.....
If you want to get where you want to go.......NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER listen to somebody else's advice on what you should be......especially anything coming from a parent, they are the worst offenders. Many of them would like to live their lives over again, living vicariously through your accomplishments based on their recommendations.
Then when you succeed they will say it was their idea. If you fail they will say it was your fault.
Trust yourself and your own decisions....not someone elses.
Of course if your goal is to be a live-at-home money-sucking couch potato...then you will need a case of TNT up your arse to point you in the right direction....
If you want to get where you want to go.......NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER listen to somebody else's advice on what you should be......especially anything coming from a parent, they are the worst offenders. Many of them would like to live their lives over again, living vicariously through your accomplishments based on their recommendations.
Then when you succeed they will say it was their idea. If you fail they will say it was your fault.
Trust yourself and your own decisions....not someone elses.
Of course if your goal is to be a live-at-home money-sucking couch potato...then you will need a case of TNT up your arse to point you in the right direction....
GLG
Well-Known Member
Aim high, real high, as if you fail you will still be better off then if you aimed low.
Oh and me, they (school) said I should be a carpenter like my dad.
Didn't go that route, I went to the oil patch and then management.
Kicked around looking for fun things to do that paid well.
Got into computers when they first came out.
Changed careers many times and ended here on the Island to raise a family.
Still looking for my next opportunity that pays well and is fun to do.
GLG
Oh and me, they (school) said I should be a carpenter like my dad.
Didn't go that route, I went to the oil patch and then management.
Kicked around looking for fun things to do that paid well.
Got into computers when they first came out.
Changed careers many times and ended here on the Island to raise a family.
Still looking for my next opportunity that pays well and is fun to do.
GLG
lorneparker1
Banned
Although i do agree with the part of choosing your own path. I am not sure this is how i word it. lol. I am pretty sure most parents wants whats best for thier kids.
Dave S
Active Member
Not sure I agree with this advice 100%. Depends on the parents and the kid. Some parents encourage their kids to do what they want to do and to follow your dreams.
tubber
Well-Known Member
Love my job. Dodgeball, Shakespeare, coaching kids. 0,0, and 0 raise next week will be a kick in the teeth, but we lost the fight and will hope for more reason from both sides next time. Glad I didn't chase the commercial fishing career beyond the summer high school/university gig. Way too cyclical and unpredictable for me. Professional coach was another option, but living overseas, or in a big city, or in a university town like Brandon would blow. Don't look back, do a little planning, but today is the most important day of your life.
By the way, modern high schools do do a better job of steering some kids toward certain careers than in years gone by, but these kids tend to be self-motivated and know what they want to do. Others are pushed to pursue certain jobs because they have limited their options through poor work habits, low grades, lack of family support, or too much partying. The rest get a solid education with enough skills to explore and continue to learn and find out what's out there. Not everyone can be a rocket surgeon, and now most trades require solid math and communication skills. Read to your kids daily when they are little and act quickly if they don't like math. (Says the proud dad with a kid in Biomedical Engineering, whatever that is.)
By the way, modern high schools do do a better job of steering some kids toward certain careers than in years gone by, but these kids tend to be self-motivated and know what they want to do. Others are pushed to pursue certain jobs because they have limited their options through poor work habits, low grades, lack of family support, or too much partying. The rest get a solid education with enough skills to explore and continue to learn and find out what's out there. Not everyone can be a rocket surgeon, and now most trades require solid math and communication skills. Read to your kids daily when they are little and act quickly if they don't like math. (Says the proud dad with a kid in Biomedical Engineering, whatever that is.)
Mighty Sylvan
Active Member
Hmmm, it seems the teachers have got it figured out.
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
I started out as a fishing guide after high school, loved it, but wanted to be something more than just a "fishing guide". Went to trade school and became a marine mechanic. From there worked at alot of different places some good some bad. I always took advantage of an opportunity and still do. I now am a heavy duty mechanic and pretty much run my own show, I still work on boats and still do fishing charters. I do Karate three times a week and coach gynmnastics about the same. I also have 5 kids. Right now im in a motel room in Zebellos, about to teach a 3 day course on boat repair and maintenance. I never thought Id be doing this.. but hey, if a door opens, its your choice to go through it, or close it.
Steelhead S2
Active Member
This is a great thread. And it's refreshing to see a group of guys all being so positive about their situations. I know we've all got our problems, but no one is getting hung up on that. Maybe it isn't just the teachers, but the fishers who have something figured out? People on here are expressing good values, and everyone seems to have perspective.
As for me, I've made a few mistakes; done a few things that continue to make me cringe when I think about them. But, I survived. Despite those few character-building mistakes, I wouldn't change much so far. After high school, University offered a great opportunity to party. Which I did. But in the last two years I found my academic legs, and finished near the top of my class.
All this time, and for a few years after, I made a living fishing. Fishing was formative for me in the way that travelling has been for many of my friends. I was raised to work hard, with a DIY ethic. But fishing took this to a new level. I worked with some great skippers, and some not so great, and I became a skipper myself. The best part of all was the fishing, but everything about fishing was great. Oh, and it was another opportunity to party too.
But fishing meant too much time away from home, and since I was lucky enough to meet a beautiful, patient, sane young woman, my mind was on family. So it was back to school (with a trans-Canada fishing trip to get there!) to take a profession. Now I am launching into a new career, and I love it too. Constant mental stimulation, a real opportunity to help people and do some good, and a decent income within the first few years.
Now I've got that little family I wanted too. And I'm back on the Island, right in the heart of Sportsmen's Paradise.
There's a few material things I want to acquire, but they'll come soon enough. And there's a few more things I want to learn (especially an instrument), but there's still plenty of time for that.
I wish I had more time for fishing and other outdoor activities, but I have enough. I wish I'd kept in touch with more of the good friends I've had, but I'm better at that now. So I think that, if I had a Mulligan in this life, I wouldn't change much at all.
As for me, I've made a few mistakes; done a few things that continue to make me cringe when I think about them. But, I survived. Despite those few character-building mistakes, I wouldn't change much so far. After high school, University offered a great opportunity to party. Which I did. But in the last two years I found my academic legs, and finished near the top of my class.
All this time, and for a few years after, I made a living fishing. Fishing was formative for me in the way that travelling has been for many of my friends. I was raised to work hard, with a DIY ethic. But fishing took this to a new level. I worked with some great skippers, and some not so great, and I became a skipper myself. The best part of all was the fishing, but everything about fishing was great. Oh, and it was another opportunity to party too.
But fishing meant too much time away from home, and since I was lucky enough to meet a beautiful, patient, sane young woman, my mind was on family. So it was back to school (with a trans-Canada fishing trip to get there!) to take a profession. Now I am launching into a new career, and I love it too. Constant mental stimulation, a real opportunity to help people and do some good, and a decent income within the first few years.
Now I've got that little family I wanted too. And I'm back on the Island, right in the heart of Sportsmen's Paradise.
There's a few material things I want to acquire, but they'll come soon enough. And there's a few more things I want to learn (especially an instrument), but there's still plenty of time for that.
I wish I had more time for fishing and other outdoor activities, but I have enough. I wish I'd kept in touch with more of the good friends I've had, but I'm better at that now. So I think that, if I had a Mulligan in this life, I wouldn't change much at all.
Mighty Sylvan
Active Member
It’s good to read the experiences and the positive outlook on life you all take. My reason for the thread was to encourage conversation not to come across as regretful or sorry for myself although from some of the reaction it seems it may have come across that way. That being said, I have a job that pays very well, is four days a week and a family that loves me and allows me fishing as a hobby. My thoughts while posting this thread were based around the fact that I get home and think about and study boating and fishing and not electricity or the distribution of it. I wondered what would my life be like if I worked at what I loved as apposed to what I do. This forum is filled with professionals that clearly love what they do and then come on-line and share their experience and for that I may have a little bit of envy. Thanks to all of you and continue posting!
MS
Mighty Sylvan
Active Member
Tsquared
Well-Known Member
x2 on that one. I started out commercial trolling and switched to education. The munchkins still make me laugh and I get to fish for fun in the summer.
T2
Englishman
Well-Known Member
Well my tale is slightly different because I grew up in London , U.K. in the 50’s and 60’s. Just a bit young for the heyday of swinging London, mini skirts, and Carnaby Street, but I grew up listening to the Beatles and the Stones for all that. My parents did not say exactly what I should do but they provided strong direction to counter all the “noise” from the rock n’roll and pop culture. “Get a University education and study science” they said. “Any science” they said. In industrial Britain there were no outdoor jobs and my mother had a dread of us kids ending up working on some soul destroying factory assembly line somewhere for 30 years. This was in the early 60’s when technical people were leaving Britain in droves for big jobs in the U.S. and this social phenomenon was referred to as the ”Brain Drain” by the popular press of that era.
After working hard at school I duly went off to university to study chemistry, spending 6 years there. I might have become an academic, but while doing research I was exposed to computers and computer programming and decided to go in that direction. So out into industry I went as an information technology and computing professional. Because of the wide application of computers, even back then, I worked for a number of different organisations in the U.K. and eventually in Canada as well. It has been a wild ride. I started on mainframes and have been through the entire I.T. evolution from these room sized machines that used punched cards, to mini-computers, PC’s and local area networks, to database servers, and finally the Internet and a browser based computer connected world of e-mail, Facebook and this forum! It has been a fascinating career and I have never regretted leaving chemistry behind. And I doubt I would have been able to come to Canada if not for being a computer guy.
If I had it all to do again, the choices would be similar, but I might have stayed more in the technical field instead of going into the management side. Some of the departmental office politics I ran into proved to be very difficult and I did not enjoy the stress that came my way because of that.
And if I had been born with a great deal more soccer skill than I had, my dream would have been to have been a professional soccer player! Those guys playing for the big European sides like Manchester United, Inter- Milan, and Barcelona make huge salaries and have a great lifestyle on the international stage. Well an old guy can dream can’t he??
After working hard at school I duly went off to university to study chemistry, spending 6 years there. I might have become an academic, but while doing research I was exposed to computers and computer programming and decided to go in that direction. So out into industry I went as an information technology and computing professional. Because of the wide application of computers, even back then, I worked for a number of different organisations in the U.K. and eventually in Canada as well. It has been a wild ride. I started on mainframes and have been through the entire I.T. evolution from these room sized machines that used punched cards, to mini-computers, PC’s and local area networks, to database servers, and finally the Internet and a browser based computer connected world of e-mail, Facebook and this forum! It has been a fascinating career and I have never regretted leaving chemistry behind. And I doubt I would have been able to come to Canada if not for being a computer guy.
If I had it all to do again, the choices would be similar, but I might have stayed more in the technical field instead of going into the management side. Some of the departmental office politics I ran into proved to be very difficult and I did not enjoy the stress that came my way because of that.
And if I had been born with a great deal more soccer skill than I had, my dream would have been to have been a professional soccer player! Those guys playing for the big European sides like Manchester United, Inter- Milan, and Barcelona make huge salaries and have a great lifestyle on the international stage. Well an old guy can dream can’t he??
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